"View Upstairs": On a Queer Day You Can See Forever

The Cast of "The View Upstairs"
(photo: Nile Scott Studios)

Magical realism alert: Max Vernon, author of The View Upstairs, the current Speakeasy Stage Company production, loves it, and it permeates his work. This is the New England premiere (after mountings as widely offered as London and Australia) of the off-Broadway play based on a real incident, the 1973 suspected firebombing of the gay bar known as the Upstairs Lounge in the French Quarter of New Orleans. While no one was ever charged, arson was believed to be the cause of the tragic deaths of thirty-two people. Vernon not only wrote the Book for this work, but the Music and Lyrics as well. In so doing, he crafted a play with music that echoes his personal taste, with influences he notes as David Bowie, Lou Reed, Laura Nyro, Stevie Wonder and Elton John, with a self-described emphasis on the “subversive, sexy and a little wild.” When you factor in the reality that this triple threat is only in his early thirties, it's a wonder. Vernon's expressed goal was to reach audiences who might feel distanced from what he views as traditional theater. Magical realism has never been more, well, magical.



Davron S. Monroe in "The View Upstairs"
(photo: Nile Scott Studios)

In this vein, Director Paul Daigneault has staged the piece in the intimate Plaza Theatre, with some audience members on stage, reflecting his view that the bar is the main character of the play. The story centers around Wes (J'royce Jata), a young fashion designer, who has just purchased an abandoned building, which he soon learns was the site of the Upstairs Lounge; he suddenly finds himself transported back in time to the Lounge before the horrific event. He discovers that the bar was a community, a place where a group was brought together, in a true mixture of interests and ages. The community included a minister, Richard (Russell Garrett), a married pianist, Buddy (Will McGarrahan), hilariously flamboyant Willie (Davron S. Monroe), manager Henri (Yewande Odetoyinbo), Patrick (the outstanding Eddie Shields), drag queen Freddie (Shawn Verrier), his supportive mother Inez (Johanna Carlisle-Zepeda), and hustler Dale (Jared Troilo). While all are fine, never out of character for an instant, one does end up wishing there had been more back story for players such as Buddy and Dale with their underwritten roles. There are also cops, then and now, well played by Michael Levesque.

 

The Cast of "The View Upstairs"
(photo: Nile Scott Studios)

  

 

Daigneault has opined that Wes learns from this range of men what was lost and what was gained in the fight for equality, a cautionary tale for each successive generation to learn from one another. At just under two hours with no intermission, and what has been described as a “gritty glam rock score”, it's a spare but acute dissection of culture. As ably Directed by Daigneault, with excellent Music Direction by Adam Bokunewicz, minimal Choreography by Alessandra Valea, clever eclectic Scenic Design by Abby Shenker, amazingly varied Costume Design by Dustin Todd Rennells (including outfits just for the curtain call), Lighting Design by Abigail Wang and Sound Design by Elektra T. Newman, it's a fascinating slice of life.

 

Eddie Shields & J'royce Jata in "The View Upstairs"
(photo: Nile Scott Studios)

While one's exposure to this group makes for tantalizingly brief insights that cry out for more development (when's the last time you wished a play were longer?), it remains an engrossing display of imagination. Just when one thought good original theater might be on life support, along comes this fiercely in-your-face talent, which couldn't have been more timely. A short time before the real-life tragedy occurred, the patrons all sang “united we stand, divided we fall, and if our backs should ever be against the wall, we'll be together”. It was a short four years after the defiance of Stonewall, which makes this a fitting tribute to that signal event's upcoming fiftieth anniversary.

Walk right upstairs, (well, all right, downstairs), through June 22^nd, at the Plaza Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. You'll discover yet another reason for a community to be proud.



ADDENDUM:  Note that SpeakEasy (from June 8th to June 30th) will be presenting a repeat run of its production from last fall of "Fun Home" at the Calderwood Pavilion.  This critic's review of same will be republished here soon, ahead of the run. You absolutely owe it to yourself to see it, either for the first time, or again.